A quiet revolution is taking place in this country. Increasing numbers of telephone subscribers are turning away from the traditional phone networks and using voice over IP to handle all of their voice traffic needs.

Voice over IP (VoIP), as the name implies, routes phone calls over the internet rather than through the traditional packet switched telephone network that was developed before the turn of the century (20th, that is). VoIP offers many advantages: better sound quality and lower cost are the two biggest. Much like email, where you can send a message to anybody on the planet and it is included in your monthly email service cost, with VoIP, you can make a telephone call to anybody in the world, and the cost is included in your monthly internet service bill. So talking to your brother in South Africa costs no more than talking to your next door neighbor.

Companies such as Xantek, Inc, Vonage Holdings Corp., and SunRocket, Inc. are leading the way in offering affordable VoIP telephone service to the home consumer. For a fixed monthly fee ranging from $21.95 to $26.75, you can make unlimited calls to anywhere in the US, Canada, and a range of international destinations.

These costs will be dropping. Right now, since 99% of the world is still using the old fashioned telephone system, most of the cost of these services involves the cost of connecting back into the old system. As more and more users switch to VoIP, it will no longer be necessary to make use of the old phone service and calls will go directly over the internet from origin to destination. According to William Neely, CEO of Xantek, Inc., monthly costs in the range of $4 to $6 a month will become prevalent in the next five years.

If you already have high speed internet service into your household, you may want to start investigating VoIP right away. It could save you big bucks on your current phone costs.

By: Benjamin Wise

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Smartphone

One of the more important decisions when running an effective business or office environment is having an appropriate phone system. Here is some helpful information on what should be one of the essential investments you will make for your business.

Before researching your options, determine the needs of your business. Do you see your company maintaining its workload or are you hoping for a significant jump in revenue and clients? How many phone extensions and lines will your business need to keep in contact clients and maintain credit card terminals, modems and fax machines? What other phone features will you need to consider? After answering these questions, consider these four business phone systems:

•    KSU-less systems: Ideal for businesses with ten or less employees that do not plan on future growth, the affordable system can be programmed with many advanced features. These usually cost $100-$250 per phone.

•    Key systems: Best suited for offices with ten to 40 employees, this system is ideal for a small business that anticipates future growth. These systems can range anywhere from $300-$1,000 per employee.

•    PBX phone system: Best suited for a business with at least 40 employees, a private branch exchange can be customizable for any office and provides special features that key systems cannot. These systems on average are $1,000 per employee.

•    VoIP systems: Ideal for businesses that frequently make international calls, this system uses broadband Internet connection to make and receive calls. Downsides of the system include problems during power outages and making emergency calls. These usually cost $100-$250 per phone.

Installation costs, the price of the cabinet, phones and optional features will also increase the total price of the chosen telephone system. If you decide on a VoIP phone system, find a qualified vendor that will assist with the set up and installation process, train your employees on the new system, offers updates when necessary and has reliable references to enforce their quality service.

If you are still unsure about which vendor or phone system to work with, speak with other business owners to get recommendations and referrals, get quotes from three to five potential vendors, consider your business’ future growth and how they would accommodate upgrades and test out different systems before making a final decision. Recognize your current and future business needs to make an informed decision on the preferred phone system and vendor.

By: Merrin Muxlow

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Smartphone

There is a huge assortment of iPod accessories that all have different kind of functions. Let’s take a look at some, but before we do, there is something that all customers must be aware of before going out and buying iPod accessories. First thing you should know is what model type the iPod is. With the many generations of iPods it can be confusing so here is a list of iPod models and the different generations: (1) iPhone, (2) iPod Touch, (3) iPod Classic, (4) iPod Mini, (5) iPod Photo, (6) iPod Video, (7) iPod Nano (1st and 2nd generation), (8) iPod Nano Video (3rd generation), (9) Apple iPod (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th generations), and the (10) iPod Shuffle (1st and 2nd generation).

A popular iPod accessory is iPod cases. There are many different kind of iPod cases and all of them share the same two objectives of cases expectancy. The first objective of iPod cases is to protect iPods, preventing it from any kind of damages, accidents or scratches. The second objective of iPod cases is to let you express what it is that you like and to display your personality. You can choose various iPod cases ranging from plastic cases, silicone cases, armor cases, furry fun friends cases and much more. There are different colored cases, cases with beautiful designs like surfers, flowers and a lot more that can instantly change the look of the iPod. iPod cases are the easiest way of customization while keeping it looking good as new and standing out in the sea of iPods.

Another popular iPod accessories are iPod headphones and iPod speakers. Both iPod accessories actually share the same function. They enable music to be played through from the iPod itself. There are various iPod speakers and iPod headsets/iPod headphones. You can choose from a lot of iPods speakers like portable stereo speakers, apple speakers, spider pig iPod speakers and much more. There are also a lot of iPod headphones/iPod headsets that are compatible with any iPod players. For each iPod accessory there are always multiple colors for you to choose from so you can find the colors to match with the iPod or your favorite color.

Obviously there are more to iPod accessories than just iPod cases, iPod speakers, and iPod headphones/iPod headsets. There are also iPod chargers, iPod armbands, iPod docking stations, iPod fm transmitters, iPod batteries and much more. The selections of iPod accessories are a wide variety and every single accessory has a different kind of usage.

If you are planning to buy iPod cases, you should always make sure which case is for which iPod. iPod cases are easy to install and have instant customization. A favorite iPod accessory among people who work out at gyms or are always on the go, is the iPod armband. You just snap in the iPod into the case provided or slip the armband through the case and slide it around your arm, making sure that it is a snug fit so it will not move around when you are up and about.

By: thomasz

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Pay As You Go Cell Phone

“1, 2, 3, 4 tell me that you love me more”. Yes we do. Well who won’t? It’s Apple iPod, the heartthrob of the music lovers. Passing generation-by-generation Apple has always given us a bolt from the blue. Transforming from its classic look it acquired a click wheel, then a touch wheel and now a touch screen. IPod has been able to achieve its unrivaled domain due to its user interface, strong brand identity and compact body. The secret is that apple has a single supplier that designs 1.8 inch wide hard drive giving its music players a thinner look. Talking about thin look, nothing can be cuter than the IPod nano series. As the word suggests they are really nano. Let’s talk about the flavor of the season 3rd Gen iPod nano.

2.75″ tall, 2.06″ Wide and 0.26″ thick, this miniscule thing weighs only 50 grams. So how is it different from the prior generations? The iPod nano 3rd Gen is shorter and wider, almost like a mini version of classic. It has smooth corners and its edges fade to a sharp edge. It has an anodized aluminum top and polished stainless steel back plate.

To lure you it is available in five different colors. In addition it has brighter screen with better picture definition. The internal battery gives you 24 hours of audio playback and 5 hours of video playback. However this would reduce in case you like to skip and shuffle while listening to music. Nano 3rdGen comes with a dock connector, which is a 30 pin connector allowing you to connect your iPod to a loud speaker, charge without pc, connect to a TV and other iPods and podcast. Another amazing factor about nano 3rd Gen is its hold switch location on bottom that lets you continue from the point you stopped at last time.

Apple has always been quick with its innovations. While Nano 3rd Gen is enjoying its stroll among the users Nano 4th Gen has already been launched in the market. It is available in 8 GB or 16 GB capacity and comes in 9 colors. It has taller screen, curved surface, oval shape when seen from the top or bottom. Apple has included accelerometer in this new Nano which supports shake feature. Shake feature allows you to shuffle your music by simply shaking the iPods nano from side to side. Shaking will also advance playback to the next shuffled song if iPod nano is already playing music.

Well with the advent of Nano 4th Gen the question arises that how long would Nano 3rd gen enjoy its reign for. At the moment, you can posses this tech-toy at the range between Rs. 8275 to 10900. If this too pricy, you might as well wait till the price falls.

By: Pooja Lapasia

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Smartphone

Thinking about VoIP routers can be intimidating to people just starting to investigate voice over internet protocol (VoIP) solutio ns. It can be very intimidating because it seems like you have just too many options. There are hundreds of routers on the market in a very wide range of prices. If, however, you take a step back and look at VoIP router technology and how it works to bring you telephone service independently from all the various makes and models it becomes much less mysterious and confusing.

VoIP telephony is simply talking on your phone by using your high speed Internet connection. Despite the number of options you have in terms of specific hardware, the actual equipment that you need is relatively minimal. Using a VoIP router is not your only option in getting phone service but it is a critical component if you plan to use the Internet as well as take advantage of telephone services. A VoIP router can also enable you to use the same hand sets that you have always used. The VoIP directs the traffic between your Internet connection and your computer equipment.

What the VoIP router actually does is receive the information coming in through your broadband connection and interpret the headers and other information in order to determine where the information needs to go. In other words, the VoIP router takes the packets of data from one network and “routes” them to another network. Without the VoIP router, your phone would not get the information it needs.

There are ways to take advantage of VoIP technology without using a VoIP router. If, for example, you do not need to be able to access the Internet, you can use an ATA adaptor to manage the information. With a VoIP router there is no need for an adapter. You can also purchase a special VoIP telephone which contains the necessary hardware and software to handle the data without using a VoIP router. This technology is still in its relatively early stages and is still somewhat expensive. You can also opt for a software plus telephone set solution that works directly on your computer. The set may be run through your audio card or it may be USB. This is probably the cheapest solution but it is also not a real substitute for VoIP technology that mimics the phone setups we are used to with traditional telephone systems.

The largest and most well known provider of VoIP routers is probably Cisco who markets its products under the Linksys name. Cisco/Linksys VoIP routers are considered to be high quality, strong, and reliable. Other big names in the market are 3Com and D-Link.

There is no question that a VoIP router is a very important element in accessing VoIP phone technology, particularly if you plan to use the Internet. It isn’t your only solution and it really isn’t as difficult to manage as it first appears to be. With a little research you’ll have your VoIP phone solution working in no time.

By: Bailey

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Global telecom telecom business opportunity !